Boozy cyclist slapped with 15-year bike ban

Published: 29 Nov 2009 11:50 GMT+01:00

A university student has been banned from riding his bike for a whopping 15 years after police caught him pedalling blind drunk through the streets of his home town of Gießen, Bild am Sonntag reported Sunday.

Christopher Hahn, 24, blew 0.17 percent blood alcohol – or 1.7 promille, more than three times the legal driving limit – after he attracted the attention of a police patrol while riding home from a party early one morning in June 2008.

Hahn was initially fined €500 by the district office of Gießen, in the state of Hesse. But the road traffic licensing department office in his town subsequently demanded he undergo a medical and psychological examination, which would have cost the student at least another €500.

When Hahn refused, he got a letter from the office telling him: “You are no longer entitled to ride any leg-powered vehicle on public streets.”

The letter went on to explain the ruling applied for 15 years. If Hahn wants to ride his bike before 2024, he must pay €25 each time, the ruling states.

Oddly enough, he is still permitted to ride a horse, the paper reported, though this is unlikely as he suffers an allergy to horse hair.

Your comments about this article

What's next, will people be banned from walking if they are found walking while drunk? "road traffic licensing department office in his town subsequently demanded he undergo a medical and psychological examination, which would have cost the student at least another 500." How ridiculous.

So this guy gets a fine of 500 euro plus a bill of another 500 euro, but refuses to pay so is banned from cylcing. If he hasn't paid anything then it sounds like he has won, surely a fine is a punishment not an option. SIXTH months hard labour - CASE DISMISSED - :-D

With a population of about 71,000 in Gießen I'd take my chances and get a few free rides in. If the police are that concerned with a fellow riding his bike to university or where ever, not with the robbery/battery/rape/murder/and vehicular accidents etc. that must also be happening in a city that size, I say give them 25 Euros for their myopic gaze.

It is illogical to abide by illogical laws/judgments. The guy didn't kill or hurt anyone by driving a car while drunk, and it wasn't reported that he destroyed any property. It also seems this was a first offense.

True, chances of him getting caught are pretty slim, after 19th time of being unlucky he could still quit the bike and not have paid a penny more than the fine.

But surely the cost of two policemen stopping and fining this guy would be more than 25 euro, so where does this fit into the public interest? He shouldn't have been banned, but forced to pay or punished properly for breaking a law that is pretty harmful to anyone but themselves.

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